The present invention is related to communication and storage of multimedia information, and more particularly to techniques for capturing information related to multimedia presentations and storing the captured information in a plurality of formats for subsequent retrieval.
Multimedia presentations combining audio and video information are commonly used for communicating information in various environments such as commercial environments, academic environments, and others. For example, in a commercial environment, multimedia presentations may be used during meetings, during marketing presentations, etc. In academic environments multimedia presentations may be used for presenting information during lectures, class project presentations, etc. Conventionally, multimedia presentations are generally prepared using applications, such as Microsoft POWERPOINT, which store the multimedia presentation in an accessible format, e.g. a multimedia presentation file. The multimedia presentation file is typically stored on a device such as a laptop computer which can be carried to the presentation environment. The multimedia information contained in the multimedia presentation file (referred to as “multimedia presentation information”) may then be presented by connecting the laptop computer to an output device and by “executing” or “opening” the multimedia file. “Executing” or “opening” the multimedia presentation generally causes information stored in the file, such as audio and video information, to be output via the output device.
The increasing popularity of multimedia presentations has also given rise to a need for recording the information presented during multimedia presentations to allow persons unable to attend the live presentation to be able to view the presentation at a later time. The recording also provides an archive which allows interested parties to review the presentation at a later time. Conventionally, archiving of presentations is typically done by storing a digital version of the multimedia presentation file. For example, for presentations prepared using Microsoft POWERPOINT, the “*.ppt” may be stored. A disadvantage of this technique is that anyone reviewing the presentation at a later time is typically required to use the same version of the application which was used to create the stored multimedia presentation. This may be difficult to satisfy at all times, especially when the presentation was prepared a long time ago and the application used to prepare the multimedia presentation is no longer available. Further, presentations prepared using applications running on a particular operating system, for e.g. Microsoft Windows, may not be reviewable by users using a UNIX based system. Additionally, due to their audio and video content, multimedia presentation files are typically very large, may contain many attachments, and thus consume valuable system and memory resources. Also, multimedia presentation files fail to capture audio information such as comments made by the presenter during the presentation and/or comments or questions asked by the attendees during the live presentation.
Another commonly used technique for recording multimedia presentations is to use a video camcorder. However, this technique also has several disadvantages. For example, a person is required to operate the video camcorder. Also, due to the location of the video camcorder with respect to the presentation, the video recording may not be of good resolution and clarity. Further, since the video camcorder equipment has to be placed right in front of the presentation to record the presentation, valuable space, which could have been occupied by the attendees, is now wasted by the video camcorder equipment. The line of sight of the video camcorder may also be inadvertently obstructed by attendees of the presentation. Also, since the information is stored on a video cassette, a user needs to have access to a video player to view information stored on the video cassette.
In light of the above, there is a need for a system which can record information during multimedia presentations without the disadvantages associated with conventional recording techniques. It is desirable that the system be able to record multimedia presentations in a non-intrusive manner, store the multimedia information using minimal resources, and to make the recorded presentation accessible via several different interfaces.